Tiller's life on the road anything but average

November 25, 2006|AL LESAR Tribune Staff Writer

From Collomore Road in Toledo to Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, the journey traveled by 63-year-old Joe Tiller has been memorable. Trouble was, the Purdue football coach never wrote any of those memories down. Thus was the inspiration for the recently released "Not Your Average Joe," a book written by Tiller with veteran Lafayette Journal & Courier Purdue football beat writer Tom Kubat. "There really is no message in the book," Tiller said. "I got talked into doing it by the publishers. I had never written anything down about my memories. It was just an attempt to tell my story." Tiller's story travels from Toledo, to Montana State, to Calgary, to Purdue, to Wyoming and back to Purdue for the last decade. His focus keeps coming back to the important influence of his family and coaching friends like Joe Paterno -- who wrote the forward for the book -- former Purdue coach Leon Burtnett and Mike Price, who was the head coach at Washington State when Tiller was an assistant there in 1989-90. "I didn't know what to expect when I started writing the book," Tiller said. "I like the way it turned out, but we put together probably twice as much material as was used. I wouldn't look forward to doing that again." No-shows Backup defensive end Eugene Bright, a junior, and redshirt freshman receiver Derek Benson "remain part of the team" but didn't make the trip for today's game in Hawaii, according to Tiller. The two were arrested last weekend at a party at an off-campus house after Purdue's win over Indiana. Bright had to be subdued by a Taser when he repeatedly tried to interfere with police who were breaking up a gathering that involved underage drinking. Benson was arrested for furnishing alcohol to minors, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, disorderly conduct and maintaining a public nuisance. Tight end Jerry Wasikowski was ticketed for a violation of the noise ordinance and was scheduled to travel with the team. "Noise ordinance," Tiller said. "That's the first time we've had a violation of the noise ordinance." Jerry who? In NFL circles, Jerry Glanville was a flamboyant head coach who was great for a sound bite and even better at getting his players riled up. Glanville made a name for himself by leading the Houston Oilers and then the Atlanta Falcons. Now, he's relatively obscure as the defensive coordinator on a Hawaii team that is committed to scoring a lot of points. Glanville will pit his aggressive defense against a Purdue offense that has proven to be explosive at times. It gives Boilermaker quarterback Curtis Painter a chance to show his talents against one of the most innovative minds in the business. And a big name, to boot...sort of. "No, I don't know who he is," Painter said of Glanville. "Is that a bad thing?" Only if Glanville gets the upper hand today.